Assembly Bill 176 was introduced last summer by Representatives Bies, Jacque, Kaufert, and Van Roy; and cosponsored by Senator Lasee. The bill passed the Assembly on January 26 and is now scheduled for a vote in the Senate today, March 6.

Under current law, the DNR may promulgate rules establishing qualifications for persons applying for commercial fishing licenses for fishing in the Great Lakes. These rules include a requirement that, in order to qualify for a license, an applicant must have harvested in the previous license year at least a certain amount of fish. This bill prohibits minimum harvesting requirements.

Minimum business size requirements are corporatist, protectionist schemes that establish price gouging cartels. These laws only come about through blatant corruption. Since this law eliminates one of these schemes, it earns the score of MORE LIBERTY.